Wayne Rooney England career looks over as Gareth Southgate ignores him for World Cup qualifier against Scotland
Rooney axed as Three Lions captain earlier this year and now left out of squad as Southgate brings down curtain on career
WAYNE ROONEY'S England career has been effectively ended after he was left out of Gareth Southgate's squad for the World Cup clash with Scotland.
Rooney appeared to lose the captain's armband earlier this year when he was overlooked for the March internationals because of injury.
But this time there are no such fitness concerns and his omission from the party for their Group F qualifier at Hampden Park on June 10 shows he is no longer a contender for the international squad.
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Rooney will not publicly give up hope of fighting his way back into the England reckoning, but with his best form a distant memory it seems unlikely he will ever add to his 119 caps.
But the Manchester United ace has earned his place in history as the player to score the most goals for his country, and his 53 strikes will be hard to beat.
Southgate said: “We have a lot of players playing exceptionally well in the area of the pitch that Wayne plays.
“I said last time that he was a bit short of matches – he’s had some matches now but we’ve got players that have done really, really well for us in Adam Lallana and Dele Alli.
“We’ve got Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane coming back and Jermain Defoe who did really well for us last time while Jamie Vardy’s been in excellent form in the second half of the season.
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“I can’t dress it up any other way. Other players are in really good form and deserve to keep their place.”
Southgate has recalled West Ham left-back Aaron Cresswell to his squad while Tottenham right-back Kieran Trippier gets his first call-up.
Ben Gibson is part of the 25-man squad despite Middlesbrough's relegation to the Championship, but there is no place for Burnley's Michael Keane.
Marcus Rashford has been chosen in the senior squad by Southgate, meaning he won't be part of the England U21 set-up competing in the European Championship next month.
Jermain Defoe maintains his place in the group having scored against Lithuania in March, but Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck are both left out.
And unsettled Everton ace Ross Barkley has also been omitted after a drop in form, with West Brom's Jake Livermore keeping his place in Southgate's plans.
England also face France in a friendly international in Paris on Tuesday 13 June.
Southgate said: “The Scotland game is one of football’s great fixtures.
“We’re in a place in the group where a win can really put us in a very strong position, and that’s what we want to achieve.
“France is a great challenge for us. Our ambition with our friendly matches is to play the best possible teams – we’ve done that by playing Spain and Germany already.
"They’re teams we want to test ourselves against and these are great opportunities to learn and improve.
“A game away in the Stade de France will be a brilliant occasion for the players.”
England squad for Scotland and France: Jack Butland, Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, Tom Heaton, Ryan Bertrand, Gary Cahill, Nathaniel Clyne, Aaron Cresswell, Ben Gibson, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Adam Lallana, Jesse Lingard, Jake Livermore, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling, Jermain Defoe, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy.